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Skills trainer Global Knowledge has made 15,000 assessments using 360-degree feedback provider Panoramic Feedback in the past decade. The company says its flexibility and reporting options support their leadership development and coaching.

Jocelyn Bérard, VP, Global Knowledge

If you have X amount of dollars to spend on developing people, you should use a good proportion of it to assess them, raise their self-awareness, and make their boss aware of what they need. And then move to the development solution.

Toronto, Ontario (PRWEB)February 19, 2013

International skills advancement firm Global Knowledge has completed 15,000 assessments of executives and managers using 360-degree feedback from Panoramic Feedback.

Global Knowledge started using the Panoramic Feedback 360 system (http://www.panoramicfeedback.com/) a decade ago. Bérard is eager to share their experience with the training community.

RAISING LEADERS' SELF-AWARENESS IS GOOD INVESTMENT
Bérard has championed the use of 360-degree feedback at Global Knowledge (http://www.globalknowledge.com/), to drive the development of effective leaders. "Self-awareness adds a great deal to the growth of leaders," he says, "and 360-degree feedback, accompanied by an effective debrief, makes a world of difference there.

"If people are not self-aware," he points out, "or don't realize that they need to improve, they may not see training and development as aligned to their needs. Or worse, they may not see any need for improvement.

"That's why, if you have X amount of dollars to spend on developing people, you should use a good proportion of it to assess them, raise their self-awareness, and make their boss aware of what they need. And then move to the development solution.”

BRING BOSS INTO PICTURE THROUGH DEBRIEFS
Bérard takes an unconventional, collaborative approach to coaching. "After I finish debriefing the 360 with the participant, then I bring his boss into the meeting room, and give her or him the highlights of the results.

"There's always a risk that if no one else follows up on the 360, all the training or coaching you did is going to vanish with no impact. I tell the participant, your manager needs to know the results, so he or she can function as your ongoing coach or your support internally."

Just as coaching is enriched by 360-degree feedback, he says, 360 gains from coaching. "360 is like a look into a mirror. You don't look better just because you look at yourself. You don't necessarily change your behaviors because of an assessment." He sees coaching as providing the structure to help leaders make changes suggested by their feedback.

EXPLOIT THAT FLEXIBILITY
For Bérard, flexibility in the 360 system is a major benefit. "As an example, we were doing a succession management project for a company recently, but people were slow to respond with their feedback. After the deadline, with the project already closed, they came to us and said they still wanted to provide their comments. So Panoramic Feedback re-opened the questionnaire for us.

"That kind of responsiveness is exceptional. I don't want to do that all the time, but I want to have the flexibility, because if it's too rigid, we'll lose great opportunities."

Bérard highlights a special section at the end of the feedback report that summarizes the participant's highest and lowest rated behaviors on a single page. "That really speaks to our people," he says.

The experts at Global Knowledge have 15,000 reasons to believe that 360-degree feedback from Panoramic Feedback makes a significant contribution to the development of leaders. For over a decade, they have experienced its impact firsthand: providing individual and group diagnostics, increasing leaders’ self-awareness and readiness for learning, and supporting training design.